


Public Enemies: London

by SteveM



Series: Life after Crisis [6]
Category: Batwoman (TV 2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:13:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22739392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SteveM/pseuds/SteveM
Summary: Still on the run Kara and Kate take in the sights of London, go clubbing and break into a highly secure Luthorcorp facility.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Kate Kane
Series: Life after Crisis [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623199
Comments: 6
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

Kate Kane had to admit the view was breathtaking. London stretched out before her bathed in the late afternoon sunlight, its twisting streets just as impressive as any American city even without their tall fingers of steel and glass stretching into the sky. Oh, sure, they had them here too but a little more restrained, a little more… well, British now that she came to think about it. Most of all though she was struck by the differences to Gotham. For such an ancient place with so many vehicles and people crammed in its boundaries London had none of the baked in grime that seemed to rest on and under every surface in her town. It enticed the eye where Gotham screamed out a warning, tried to tell you to run.

She jumped slightly as a warm hand slipped into hers and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

“You know, this place reminds me of Gotham.” Kara Danvers said quietly, almost as if reluctant to intrude on her thoughts.

“I didn’t know you could read minds.” Kate whispered back.

“I can’t but I can read your face. And I mean it, by the way, there’s definitely something in common between London and Gotham.”

“What, a river that’ll likely catch fire if you throw a match in it?”

“No. There’s a sense of… of toughness, resiliency that they both share. A sort of ‘mess with us at your peril’ vibe and a complete unwillingness to give up no matter what.”

Kate threw a sharp glance at her girlfriend for any hint that she was playing with her but only saw her usual complete honesty staring back. She took a breath and let the words sink in, running them around her head for a minute or two.

“I…. I can sorta see what you mean.” She finally admitted and Kara laughed, slipping her hand free only to put her arm around Kate’s shoulders and pull her in to a hug. 

“Sometimes we just need a little distance to see things clearly.”

“Talking of… any luck?” Kate whispered, leaning in to the hug to bring her lips within touching distance of Kara’s ear.

“Nothing obvious like a lead-lined room but there’s a *lot* of security on the entrances and some fairly major locks around the place. If we’re getting in we’re going to need to fly.”

“Got that covered. I think, anyway. Did you get a chance to check out the elevators?”

“Yep, they go all the way up to the roof, small space on top of each shaft for equipment, maintenance that sort of thing. Should be easy enough to get in to.”

“Great. Then we’ll have a chance to see if the view’s different at midnight. Got your selfie yet by the way?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, thanks for reminding me!” Kara pulled out her phone and gently turned them around until they were both smiling up at the camera lens in front of the large sign: “The View from the Shard - a Luthorcorp Subsidiary”.

“Any idea for the caption?” Kara asked as she fired up her twitter account.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the writer?”

“Yes and you’re my muse.” Kara glanced over and winked.

“You want THAT sort of caption?” Kate teased, trailing a finger down the side of Kara’s neck and snickering at the shiver that rippled through the girl of steel at such a delicate touch.

“Not THAT sort of caption but maybe a lower case ‘that’ would be appropriate…”

“Okay, how about… hmm… The best view in town.”

“It’s a selfie of us and the sign, not the view.”

“I’m aware of that, yes….”

Kara’s eyes went wide as she got the compliment. “Oh. OH. Uh, yes, that’s perfect… thank you.”

“You are such a dork sometimes.” Kate said affectionally, leaning in to kiss Kara’s cheek. “Once you’re done feeding the social media beast there’s actual food waiting for us a floor or two down.”

“One thing before we do.” Kara said, pulling Kate in close and kissing her hungrily, her tongue insisting that Kate let it in to play. Behind them the city glowed pink, a spectacular sight eclipsed by the two women lost in each others’ arms before it.

Kara had to admit that if nothing else Lex did know a good chef when he found one. The meal had been excellent and she genuinely regretted that they’d not been able to linger over it longer. Of course no matter how good the food the company was even better and she still found it slightly surreal just how effortless it seems to be open with Kate. She was comfortable around her in a way that she just wasn’t with anyone else on the planet, or beyond it come to that. Well… no, she thought guiltily, there was Alex of course. They could certainly talk about anything and had done just that for the last fifteen years. But there was always that sister thing going on which, while wonderful, did occasionally make her nervous or hesitant to share some parts of her life. With Kate it was just… acceptance. Of what she needed to say or do, of her as, well, as herself. 

Which made it all the more difficult for them both to break away from their date and head back to the hotel, doubly so as to pull off their ruse they had to be very publicly seen as unable to keep their hands off each other. By the time they bundled open the door of their luxurious suite Kate had a hand under Kara’s shirt and Kara was openly cupping the brunette’s ass as they kissed.

“This… sucks….” Kate said quietly as the kissing slowed now they were alone.

“Five minutes?” Kara suggested but Kate shook her head firmly, ignoring her own whimper of frustration as best she could.

“Come on, we’re on the clock.”

“Two?”

“Kara…” Kate had meant to put a warning tone in her voice but it came out as a plea for mercy.

“Okay, okay, yes, you’re right…. “

“Can’t help… but notice…. You’re not stopping.” Kate said, panting between kisses.

“Any moment now…”

In desperation Kate managed to slip a finger up on to Kara’s lips during one of their brief moments sucking in air. “Okay, make you a deal. We stop now, put our professional faces on and go get this done. When we get back I’ll do anything you want for an hour.”

Kara’s eyes went wide as she contemplated the possibilities. “Deal.”

“Deal.”

They broke apart panting and eyeing each other hungrily. With a visible effort they gathered their senses and Kate led Kara over to the huge walk-in closet and the two mysterious garment bags that hung there.

“Here, this one’s yours.” She said, pushing one down the rail after checking the label. Curious Kara unzipped it and saw a lot of black looking back at her. She half expected to see a bat symbol on the chest but found only a layered body armour that gave the top a blocky, menacing appearance.

“Before you say anything the armour’s there to explain why, should you get shot for example, there’s not a corpse on the floor.” Kate explained as she saw Kara’s slightly puzzled expression. “Also it hides your figure which, while a crime against nature, will also hopefully leave anyone who happens to see us guessing about everything including gender.”

“Good thinking.” Kara said, carefully removing the outfit from its bag and sorting out the various components. “I see we’re going with the ninja look tonight?”

Kate shrugged. “There’s a surprising amount of groups around the world that seem firmly stuck on ‘ninja’ when it comes to their uniform. Quite a few of them might have reason to go after a high profile building in the middle of London so it throws some additional questions into the mix.”

“Though Lex is almost certainly going to suspect it’s us anyway.”

“Yes but the harder it is to prove that the easier it is for us to skirt suspicion.”

“See this is why I let you do the planning. Talking of, any thoughts for how we play this once we’re inside?”

“Funnily enough, yes.” Kate held up a small handheld device no bigger than her palm. “This is a signal disruptor, turns off any electronic device within about a hundred yards. We each take one and it’ll basically blank out any cameras or other security as we go. Once we’ve gotten in we just run for the objective with you scanning ahead of us to make sure we can slip around any patrols.”

“Seems suspiciously easy.”

“Well that’s kinda the point of planing sweetie.” Kate teased as she started to strip down.

“Yeah yeah, just remember I said it was too easy, okay?” Kara grumbled as she too made to get into her new ninja suit.


	2. Chapter 2

They touched down gently on the roof of the small maintenance bubble right at the top of the Shard. Between them they quickly checked the area for any surprises then Kate popped open the basic lock and they slipped inside, taking up position above the elevator car, Kara floating just above Kate who crouched on the steel latticework that held the gears and cables. The inside of the shaft was dotted with cameras but they were positioned to check the doorways to each floor not the shaft itself. That, Kate had said, was a design blunder they could exploit but right now she was rather regretting that decision.

Not that she had long to think about it as someone far, far below pushed the call button and the express elevator fell away from them. It was a distinctly disconcerting feeling, watching the ground getting further away, but Kate knew it was about to get a whole lot worse. She watched the car get smaller and smaller beneath them, judging the distance. Almost there….

“Now!” She hissed and felt Kara wrap her arms around her as she stepped off her perch into thin air.

They fell like a rock, gravity speeding them both ever faster towards the metal roof of the car 95 floors below. They saw it slide to a halt at ground level, heard its doors slide open as they rushed head first towards it. Kate gulped, fighting down the rising panic, the certain knowledge that there was nothing she could do to save herself, that there was no grapple or cape at her disposal and that the real world was about to prove just how little it cared for her theatrics.

And then Kara lifted her, plucking her from the jaws of death as she ignored the physical laws of the world around her and flew. Pulling them both up she slowed them as fast as she dared, aware that Kate’s tolerances were significantly less than hers. As the doors of the lift slid closed they touched down on the roof of the car with the lightest of scrapes, a sound easily masked by the clank of the doors coming together. 

The moment her booted feet were on something solid once more Kate keyed her signal disruptor. They didn’t technically need it here, the cameras wouldn’t see them in their current huddled position, but they had to try and convince anyone reviewing the impending break-in after the fact that this was, in fact, how the enemy had entered their fortress. The breadcrumb trail of cameras going blank for a second or two as the elevator car went by ought to be enough to do just that even if no-one could ever figure out how they’d gotten there in the first place.

The car rose to the 75th floor before stopping but that didn’t much matter. They’d picked this particular shaft as the building plans showed it as defaulting to parking its car at the top of the shaft when not in use and, sure enough, it headed up to come gently to a rest just over a thousand feet in the sky. Carefully they slipped back up into the steelwork and made their way out of the maintenance area, scuttling in a crouched run to the edge of the roof. The exposed latticework surrounded by glass made for an eerie mood, like some sort of unfinished church, but it wouldn’t matter for long. Kate quickly pulled a thin roll of black rope from her back, securing it to a support beam overlooking the long vertical drop to the ground.

“Ready?” Kate asked and heard her voice come out distorted thanks to the voice changer on her hip.

“Ready.” Kara’s voice was even odder, a distinctly male sound and Kate saw the smile reach Kara’s eyes at the new experience. Of course that was all she could see thanks to the masks and hoods but, again, that was for the best considering what they were about to do. 

Kate took a deep breath, grabbed the rope and ran off the roof. Her gloved hands gripped tightly as both her and Kara seemed to run vertically down the building. Of course it was an illusion and anyone close enough to pay attention to the detail would have seen Kara only had one hand on the rope, her other fixed around the steel support system that was woven into Kate’s suit. They weren’t running or even falling. In truth they were flying.

As they reached the right level Kate tensed and jumped out, away from the glass though still hanging on to the rope. Kara was ready and mirrored the move, flying them a little away from the windows before momentum caught them and they were swinging back in, Kara twisting to make sure she hit first, her right leg extended to shatter the glass, her body tucked in as if looking to minimise the impact where in reality she was making sure to protect Kate from any fragments. And then, with a surprisingly quiet tinkle of glass, they were inside, the rope dangling down behind them another nice clue to confuse any investigation into following the wrong path.

“Come on.” Kate said, turning to lead them at a dead run through the corridors, both women now running their signal disruptors. They had the route memorised along with most of the surrounding floor and the ones above and below it. That proved to be a good precaution as several times they had to make diversions to avoid roving security patrols or just regular workers packing up for the evening. Even with those twists and turns though they made it to their target in less than two minutes and with the electronic security taken down by the disruptors Kate quickly popped the lock with a small but silent explosive liquid in the barrel and they slipped inside.

To Kate’s surprise the room was relatively sparse. On the right side was a mass of cables and distribution boxes handling the power requirements for the rest of the equipment. On the left and in the ceiling was a mass of air conditioner vents, chilling the air down to a steady 10 degrees Celsius according to the large monitoring system on the back wall. That monitor hung above a long row of cylinders containing an odd green liquid that seemed somehow… menacing as it rolled slowly in its confinement, stirred by some unseen current from the tubes connected to the base of each cylinder. And in the middle was an oddly angular control console, a tall, thin screen showing a slowly scrolling list of angular hieroglyphs that seemed oddly familiar.

“Wait, aren’t those…” She turned as she spoke but never got out the ‘Kryptonian’ part of the sentence. The look of shock on Kara’s face was so obvious Kate could make it out even with everything except her eyes covered.

“Myriad…” Kara breathed and for a moment she reached out towards the command console before collecting herself. “We need to get a sample of that liquid, now.”

Kate gave the system a quick inspection then shook her head. “No way, it’s a sealed system. Only way that stuff’s coming out is all at once and through those pipes.”

“Great.” Kara looked around for inspiration and her gaze fell on the air conditioner outflow vent directly above the cylinders. “Come here for a minute.” She said, getting on to all fours under the vent. 

“Climb up, open that vent and grab the filter.” Kara commanded and Kate did as she asked, handing the large plastic frame over to Kara as she climbed down. Carefully Kara reached out and gently, oh so gently, snapped off the lower right corner before slipping it into the bag slung across her back.

“I’ll explain later.” She murmured in response to Kate’s obvious curiosity and received a curt nod in return. Kara could feel her fingers twitch with the desire to root through the Kryptonian system in front of them for whatever secrets it might hold but… no. Doing so would give the game away and they couldn’t afford that yet. After all how many ninjas could read an alien language? Kate quickly took a series of photographs of the room for evidence then they made their way back down the corridor. Not to the window they’d come in by but the elevator shaft. 

Nervously they waited in front of the doors, feeling slightly ridiculous in their black ninja costumes with the shiny modern architecture around them. Thankfully they didn’t need to wait long until a car slid into place. Thumbing for the top floor they waited until it moved then Kara tapped open the escape hatch and they scrambled out on to the roof of the car. As it slid smoothly to a stop they climbed up back once more into the maintenance area and then out to the roof.

“That’s far enough!” A voice echoed from the shadows and they stopped dead in their tracks as a dozen armed men suddenly appeared out of nowhere. No, Kate thought, not out of nowhere… she caught the shimmer as the last of them deactivated his personal cloaking field. DEO tech she thought bitterly, fantastic. Then her attention was taken by the one who’d talked and she felt her heart sink.

“Bane…” She whispered the word so quietly she didn’t even hear it in her own ears but she knew Kara had picked up on it when she saw the other woman turn slightly, getting ready to step between Kate and the huge man standing in front of her.

“Our employer doesn’t like uninvited guests, especially ones so reluctant to show their faces.” Bane said casually. “He would very much like to meet you face to face, although he didn’t say if your face should be attached to the rest of you.” Kate took the opportunity to glance around the rest of the figures standing on the roof but from what she could tell they were just standard rent-a-goons. Some good news at least she thought bitterly. Carefully, trying not to telegraph her intentions, she glanced around the rooftop and saw the thin rope they’d used earlier still hanging in place. It wasn’t much but it might give them a way to at least try and sell that they’d ninja’d their way out rather than flown…

“Now are you going to surrender peacefully or must we enforce this request?” Bane asked almost cordially. Kara glanced over at her and Kate flicked her eyes in the general direction of the rope and the rest of the goons, taking a half step to the side to put her once again on a straight line to Bane.

Kara didn’t like it, not one bit, but she knew Kate was right. While she could, of course, knock Bane out with a single punch the ninja she was posing as definitely couldn’t. That meant using the sword each of them had on their back and Kara wasn’t anywhere near as skilled as Kate with the blade. She’d either look comically clumsy and blow their cover or accidentally kill the man, neither of which were the outcome they were after. She nodded slightly then darted to the side, fist flying out to knock one of the goons on his ass as she hurtled into the middle of the remaining ten men.

Kate pulled her blade with a sound like liquid silk and struck up a defensive pose. How on earth they were going to get out of this in an even slightly convincing way she didn’t know but they had to try. Bane laughed and moved towards her, his arms coming up so that his metallic wrist braces could catch or at least deflect the blade. Kate started to ease back, waiting, bidding her time as she looked for an opening. Suddenly, without warning, Bane lunged forward, his massive hand sweeping towards her neck like an axe. She ducked and swung, aiming not for the obvious targets of head, chest or arms but his legs. To her dismay he danced away, moving with an agility that seemed obscene for his size and only the very tip of her blade nicked through the black leather that covered his thighs. 

Kara, meanwhile, was having considerably more luck against the goon squad. Three had fallen to quick, hard hits before they’d realised they were facing someone who knew what they were doing and formed themselves into two small groups of three. That had left one unlucky soul as a sacrificial lamb to buy them time to gather their wits and Kara had obligingly taken him down with a roundhouse kick to the gut, forcing all the air out of his lungs before decking him with a right hand. Frowning beneath the mask she tried to think of a way out of this that didn’t give Lex all the proof - or, at least, convincing circumstantial evidence - he needed that this had, in fact, been Supergirl and Batwoman in town on a nice romantic vacation. 

The two groups closed in from either side, moving almost back to back so each trio was in a triangle formation, just in case she managed to slip by one to attack from behind. Clever, she thought with a flicker of annoyance. Goons, in her experience, really shouldn’t be clever. It didn’t feel like they were playing by the rules when they were clever. She moved back towards the rope and the edge of the roof, running options through her head. The rope offered the possibility of escape but it barely reached a tenth of the way down the side of the building and, ninja or not, 900 feet wasn’t really a survivable fall. They needed another option… and as one goon lunged at her from the left she saw their way out of this mess sitting on his right hip.

Kate had given up trying to play defence and was, instead, throwing a blizzard of light swipes and strikes against Bane. They weren’t doing damage, not really, but at least it was keeping him off balance and preventing him from landing the single devastating punch that would end the fight. He was bleeding from his bare shoulders and arms, a dozen small cuts proof she’d managed to hold her own… but this couldn’t last she knew. Bane was a superb fighter but also an intelligent one. Every twist, turn, thrust and swipe she sent in his direction gave him that little bit more information to work from, another hint as to her weaknesses. 

She noticed a slight shift in his body language, his weight and stance moving… With a burst of adrenaline she leapt into the air, tumbling as she went so that as she went over him she was pointing down at the ground. If he’d stayed standing she’d have cracked her skull off his mask… but he hadn’t. Instead he’d dropped down, sweeping his legs around in a wide arc that would have scythed her legs from under her had she still been on the ground. As it was he was at the perfect height for her sword to reach out and slash the tube feeding Venom into his helmet… and it sparked off as the reinforced metal and kevlar pipe did its job, deflecting the blow though there was still a clear scuff left behind and the smallest of yellow-green drips leaking down his back.

The sparks caught Kara’s attention and almost left an opening for one of the four remaining attackers to land a blow. Instinctively she went to move out the way before realising there was no way to do so at normal speeds. Instead she turned, letting the fist glance off her shoulder (and, she hoped, the armour that’d be blamed for the missed shot) and used the momentum to jerk forward and grab the outstretched arm of another assailant. Praying that she’d got the movement right she kicked off the ground, flying around the arm in a way that looked for all the world like she was simply an astonishing acrobat, and landed behind the man, her left leg slamming out to drive the air out of his partner before putting both hands on his trapped arm and tossing him into the other two men. 

As they all clattered to the ground she dove across to two unconscious bodies and ripped off the shimmering silver boxes from their belts. She’d already checked their design with her x-ray vision and was relieved to see they were self-contained with integrated power supplies. Tucking one on to the sash of her costume she raced forward aiming not for Bane but for Kate. She tackled her, hard, from the side sending them both flying through the air, the sword clattering to the ground behind them. In mid-air Kara snapped the second box into place on Kate’s waist, twisting to absorb the impact of the fall with her own body.

“Run!” She commanded, pointing towards the rope. One goon had just about made it back to his feet in time for Kate to slam him back down with a punch to the nose as they raced past. They reached the edge and jumped, both reaching for the rope with one hand while flipping the single switch on the box with the other. Instantly they shimmered and vanished, the cloaking fields snapping on around their bodies with a tingle and stink of ozone. Kara, being careful now not to overtly do anything impossible for a human, snagged Kate’s safety loop again and with precision timing kicked off the wall, arcing out and back in to the Shard in a repeat of their earlier entrance. 

“Security team to level 73!” She heard Bane call from the roof as he headed for the stairway. “Secure the permitter, no-one leaves without my approval.”

That was fine, Kara thought, they weren’t going that way anyway. She jammed on her disruptor and immediately the cloaks failed leaving them both panting on hands and knees in the middle of the room. 

“What… now?” Kate asked and was surprised when Kara ripped the cloak off her, pulling her upright and heading back towards the window. 

“Shh.” Kara whispered as she closed her eyes, focused her senses down, down, down…. This was difficult, even for someone of her gifts, and Kate breathing heavily was enough noise as it was. Talking would make it impossible. She could hear heartbeats hammering through the building but none, yet, on this level. She could hear the gasps of security forces running up stairs, hear the distant radio chatter as they co-ordinated their efforts. 

Further down, she thought, further… There! Slowly, not wanting to lose the point, she looked out of the window, easing her gaze across the gap and down to a rooftop thirty floors below. There, tilted up as far as it would go, its mechanical lens just able to take in the window they’d crashed through, was a security camera, As it struggled to keep focus she could hear the motor whining in its case… well, that was fine, she thought.

“Get ready…” Kara whispered, pulling Kate in close. They were still just far enough back not to be visible in the dark room…. Not ideal but it would have to do. She lobbed the cloaking units out of the window and listened as they rushed through the night air, hoping that she’d judged the throw properly so they’d land on an empty roof rather than the street. And there it was, the faintest of whirrs as the camera, locked in to the tracking devices embedded in the cloaks, panned down to follow their descent. A second later Kara gathered Kate in her arms and shot into the night, a black shadow against the glass then they were swallowed up by the blackness.

“That…” Kate said as she dried her hair with a towel. “was too damn close.”

“No kidding.” Kara agreed as she finished packing away the ninja suits into a small fabric bag. “First Zsasz, now Bane. Has Lex got a contract with Arkham or something?”

“Not as far as I know.” Kate replied, “but now that you mention it that might be worth checking out.”

“And you’re sure you’re okay?” Kara asked for about the tenth time.

“I’m fine!” Kate said with an exasperated tone. “I told you, he didn’t land a shot on me!” She paused for a second, the weight of her words hitting her. “Hey… I went toe to toe with Bane and he didn’t land a shot on me! Cool!”

“One up on Bruce, that’s for sure.” Kara agreed. “But you’re… sure…””

“Look for yourself!” Kate demanded, walking over and letting the towel she’d had wrapped around her drop to the floor. She slowly turned a full circle in front of Kara, her arms above her head in a pose that did more to show off her stunning figure than make it easier for Kara to check her for injuries.

“Sorry.” Kara said softly as Kate finished her twirl. “I just… I worry sometimes.”

“I know.” Kate said. “And as much as I wish you wouldn’t I know you’re going to and it IS kinda cute so it’s okay.”

“Thanks.” Kara smiled and took the naked Batwoman in her arms. “By the way you were absolutely awesome out there.”

“See, keep the compliments coming and I’m okay with the worry.” Kate replied with a smirk. “You weren’t too bad yourself love, ten on one with no obvious super’ing is a definite win in my book! Oh, talking of wins, what the hell was in that room? I mean, you obviously recognised it?”

Kara sighed and looked around, settling for dropping on to the bed and beckoning Kate to join her snuggled under the sheet.

“That… was Myriad.”

“I got that bit. What’s Myriad?”

Originally it was a… a device, a system created by my Aunt and her followers on Krypton. It was designed to save the planet.”

“Okay… so why does it sound like that’s a bad thing”

“It did so by controlling people. Removing their will, making them obedient, forcing them down a particular path.”

“Mind control.”

“On a planetary scale, yes.”

“God…”

“My Aunt was sent to the phantom zone for its development. Their prison followed my pod to Earth and she was going to use Myriad here. We… stopped her, and her followers, and Clark locked it away in his Fortress.”

“Leading to the question: what the hell is it doing in a building owned by Lex Luthor!”

Kara looked away, ashamed. “Lena stole it. She tricked me into thinking she was still my friend after I told her who I was, who I really was I mean. She let me think everything was fine, worked her way into my life and then… when I took her to the fortress trying to find a way to stop Leviathan… she turned the security systems on me, trapped me in a prison laced with Kryptonite, stole Myriad and escaped.”

“Kara…”

“She combined it with her own tech, tried to use it to control everyone on Earth. No, not control, just… modify them. Remove what she saw as their flaws, make them ‘better’. And now, I assume, Lex has his hands on it following the multiverse merging.”

Kate hugged Kara close as she tried to process the news. Clearly there was a lot more here than Kara was telling her but that could wait, at least for a while. They had to try and stay focused.

“So you’re saying Lex basically has a mind control device and it’s likely set up in six cities around the world.”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Kara sighed then frowned. “But that doesn’t explain what that liquid was or why it’s there.”

“Which reminds me, why did we grab that chunk of filter?”

“I used my microscopic vision on it.” Kara explained. “Whenever they were transferring that stuff over there must have been some residue or a slight vapour leak from the cylinders. It looked like there was a tiny amount caught in that filter panel.”

“Okay… so first thing in the morning we need to figure out a way to get an air conditioner filter tested for some unknown but potentially lethal agent as part of a romantic European vacation. Shouldn’t be too difficult!” Kate said, forcing herself to be upbeat and getting a small but genuine smile for her troubles.

“That’s assuming that Lex can’t find a way to prove we were the ones breaking in of course.” Kara pointed out.

“He won’t.” Kate said with confidence. “Your little trick with the cloaks took care of the only really obvious moment, the rest would fit the profile of a dozen different individuals or organisations and that’s just off the top of my head.”

“You’re particularly optimistic tonight.” Kara observed with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well of course. We just broke into and out of a Luthorcorp facility without leaving any obvious clues behind, got what we needed, neither of us are hurt, our cover is still intact if the slightly sleazy grins I saw through the peep hole are any indication and, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m about to be all yours for an hour. Perfect evening!”

“Uh, with what’s going through my head right now you might not want to do that.” Kara warned. 

“You’re kidding right? I just went one on one with Bane! You could tattoo your name on my ass with your heat vision and I don’t think I’d notice.”

“Hmm, there’s an idea…”

“Okay, I was kidding for dramatic effect there…”

“Oh, not that, but there IS something I’ve wanted to do to you for a while. I’m assuming you managed to pick up a strap-on while you were in gay Paris?”

“Naturally. Have to give the proper cover if the bag gets searched after a… why do you ask?” Kate said, suddenly suspicious.

“Because I have the sudden, irresistible urge to fuck your ass.”

Kate felt her jaw drop open. A little of that was shock at hearing Kara say something so… so much like something she’d say, now that Kate thought about it. Mostly though it was at the unbelievably erotic thrill the words caused and she practically scrambled out of bed to dig the requested item from her luggage.

Ten minutes later the reporters outside snickered and started writing an addendum to their articles while wondering, precisely, how to spell insatiable.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day brought with it traditional British rain, a flurry of breathless reporting on the all-night sexcapades of Kara Danvers and Kate Kane and an email from Mary to Kate recommending a tour of the Tower of London as the mix of priceless jewels and ancient death would be right in her wheelhouse. Oh and to make sure to grab a selfie in front of the Well Tower, apparently it was the upcoming thing for the cool and trendy to do for… some reason.

“So what’s the score?” Kara called out from the shower.

“Uh, looks like… 6 to me 4 to you.”

“Better than I expected. I’m assuming all of mine are along the lines of ‘what dirt has she dug up to have a hold on a billionaire’?”

Kate winced but Kara hadn’t sounded particularly upset about it. “Well… three of them are.”

“Really? What’s the fourth?”

“How much of a kinky sex beast you must be to hold my attention.”

Kara snorted with laughter and couldn’t quite bring herself back under control until she finished rinsing out the conditioner and turning off the shower. She dried herself off at super speed then wandered out into the living area wrapped in a crisp, fresh white towel.

“Well they’re not *entirely* wrong…” She teased, dipping down to kiss Kate as she walked by.

“After last night I’m inclined to agree!” Kate replied, wiggling her hips and causing Kara to blush scarlet as the memory of what she’d said in the heat of the moment flooded back. “The way you treated my poor, defenceless body…”

“Oh no, nope, none of that!” Kara said firmly, trying very hard not to think of what she’d like to do along those lines once this was all behind them and there was time for a little more… involved role-play. “I’m assuming all of yours are of the trust fund socialite corrupting the naive journalist?”

“Well… yeah, pretty much. Though one went to particular trouble to describe the sounds you were making when I broke out the feathers.”

Kara blushed again but grinned back regardless. “That was really cool…” She said wistfully. “You know I really am going to punch Lex hard enough to reach orbit when I get the chance, this is wasting entirely too much time I could be spending with you.”

“True. Talking of which have you got any idea how we’re supposed to get that sample analysed yet?”

“Honestly? No. I’ve got contacts that could do it but they’re all back in the States. I guess if we could get a message to Barry and his team Star Labs might have the right equipment but that seems dangerous as hell.”

“Yeah, though a lot less dangerous than using either the DEO or anything Wayne-related.”

“Still really risky though. You know Lex will be watching those channels like a hawk, either to catch us in, uh, character or to implicate other heroes.”

“I know but right now I’m drawing a blank on any other option.”

“There’s always the Fortress of Solitude…” Kara suggested but she sounded doubtful. 

“That’s the one in the arctic, right? Lex would have the entire airspace monitored and it’s not like there’s much traffic up there to hide you. You’d be spotted before you got within a hundred miles of the place.”

“I guess… I could trawl through the archive again, see if there’s any delivery info on it?”

“You’ve been through twice, you’d have seen it by now. All we’ve got are the transport systems, nothing about the contents.”

“So… what then?”

“I’d say we take Mary up on her suggestion, clear the mental cobwebs and reset.” Kate said with a shrug. “We’re just going round in circles right now anyway and it’ll help cement the cover story.”

‘I think it’s already pretty firmly planted.” Kara replied with a raised eyebrow, tapping the stack of newspapers they’d had delivered.

“Nothing wrong with keeping up appearances.” Kate said firmly. “Come on, get dressed and let’s get going.”

“Can’t I just go like this?” There was the rustle of cotton and Kate knew, absolutely knew, that turning around was a bad idea. She turned round.

“Uh…. Probably not. This is Britain after all, they’re a little more fussy about little details such as clothes.” Kate managed, her mouth running on autopilot as she stomped back the temptations that always flooded through her when faced with a naked and smiling Kara Danvers. 

“You’re sure….?”

“Yes. 100%. Well… 85%. Okay 50%. 42% at the absolute minimum…”

Kara laughed and strolled past her girlfriend, her hips swaying far more than necessary as she dragged a fingertip along Kate’s jaw. “Okay, give me a minute to get decent lover.”

Kate waited until the bedroom door slid closed then silently sat in a chair, let out a shaky breath and whimpered. Being around Kara normally, in every day situations, was intense as it was. She often found her attention drifting to the blonde stunner even when she really did need to listen to someone else. But like this, in full seduction mode, Kara was a force of nature and it was getting harder and harder to say no. Not that she wanted to really which was another problem entirely. For now though they had a job to do.

Kate had to admit that Mary had called this one absolutely perfectly. The blend of ancient architecture, ridiculously elaborate, expensive and beautiful historical pieces and the often grizzly tales that went with either the items or the building made for a fascinating day. The Tower of London proved to be both bigger and smaller than she expected and her trained eye noticed that the supposedly ceremonial guards were anything but if push came to shove. 

“Gotta say, props to Mary for this one.” Kara said happily as they exited the crown jewels display. “It’s weird seeing so much history in one place when I’m used to the American view.”

“What, that history started last Wednesday?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Talking of Mary, should we go get that selfie she asked us for?”

“Seems fair.” Kara agreed and they walked slowly around the outside of the grounds until they got as close as they could to the ancient well tower in the South East corner. Finding a decent angle they hugged each other close as Kate raised the phone… and suddenly they were rushing down through solid rock, a red rippling outline flowing around their bodies as they fell into a small, dank room lit by a single electric light with an older black man standing between them, his hands moving away from their shoulders.

“J’onn!” Kara cried in surprise and joy, throwing her arms around the Martian Manhunter. “What are you doing here!”

“Seeing if there’s anything we can do to help of course.” The man replied, a look of worry and relief on his face. “It’s good to see you, both of you.” He added with a smile at Kate. She nodded back, still trying to get her bearings after being phased through the world.

“Where are we anyway?” She asked, slightly dazed.

“You’re standing in one of the anterooms of the tower. It’s been sealed off from the public and staff for decades but it’s not airtight. Seemed like a good place to try and meet you.”

“So Mary’s email…”

“Was a way to guide you here without leaving any obvious breadcrumbs, yes.” J’onn shrugged. “Sorry for being so clandestine about this but…”

“No, no with Lex Luthor involved cautious is definitely the right way to go.” Kate replied.

“Talking of…” Kara sighed and ran through what they’d found out about Lex’s operations. By the time she was done J’onn looked deeply worried.

“Lex Luthor with access to Myriad is bad enough but he clearly has something else in mind for it. Do you have the sample on you?”

“Actually, yes.” Kara fished in her large purse and pulled out a sealed ziplock bag with the plastic filter piece inside. “I didn’t think it was a great idea leaving it lying around the hotel, especially as we have no idea what it actually is!”

“I can get this to Star Labs, let them see if they can figure out what it is.” J’onn said with a frown. “But it might take a couple of days and that’s with a lot of luck. I daren’t travel in daylight and the handover would need to be subtle. Lex is definitely keeping anyone that knows you under surveillance.”

“Talking of which, how’d you sneak away?” Kate asked, genuinely curious.

“Aside from being a shape shifter?” J’onn asked with a small smile.

“Yes, actually. Lex knows that so likely accounted for it.”

“We thought so too, that’s why M’gann travelled back to Earth. She’s filling in for me back home so as far as any scanners are concerned there’s a Green Martian right where they’re supposed to be.”

“Clever!” Kate said, genuinely impressed. “Impressive too that someone would travel all the way from Mars so you can make housecalls.”

“Supergirl had a major part to play in preventing the final slaughter of the resistance on Mars. They haven’t forgotten about that.” J’onn explained while Kara looked embarrassed. 

“You’ve been to Mars? Of course you’ve been to Mars…” Kate said, shaking her head. “At what point do I stop being surprised by you Ms Danvers?”

“When you’re 102.” Kara said immediately

"Stop it, I'm trying not to laugh in front of a fellow JL founder." Kate admonished her and thought, just for a moment, she saw the ghost of a smile flicker across J'onns' face.

"Unless there's anything else critical we really should be moving." J'onn said as he reluctantly got back to business. "We don't think Lex can track us down here but there's no point pushing our luck."

Kara sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right... how do we get out by the way? Same way we came in?"

"No, I'll phase you through this wall, there's a passage outside that'll bring you out by the side of the river."

Kara hesitated for a moment then threw herself at J'onn, glomping him with a hug as she hung around his neck, floating in the air. "Thank you. Thank you for coming to us." She said quietly. "It... it means a lot."

"Always..." J'onn replied, holding her close. 

Kate was reluctantly about to interrupt when a distant crump made its muffled way through the stonework around them.

"What the hell was that?" She asked as a second thud reverberated around them.

"Nothing good... " Kara growled. "Come on J'onn, we need to see what's happening."

He took their hands this time and they walked through the solid stone wall and out into a dank, rough passageway. Cautiously they made for the grey daylight around a corner and stepped out into a world gone mad.


	4. Chapter 4

All around them people were running in panic and it wasn't hard to tell the reason why. Hanging in the sky overhead was a very familiar spaceship and they could make out the flicker of transport beams as tall, lanky figures appeared in the streets seemingly out of nowhere.

"Dominators?" Kara said in disbelief. "What are Dominators doing here?"

"There was nothing picked up by the DEO, at least not before I left." J'onn said though his voice was now coming from a non-descript asian woman standing between Kate and Kara.

"You're sure that's who they are?" Kate asked, side-stepping an onrushing group of tourists.

"Hang on..." Kara pulled her glasses down and stared up at the ship, looking beyond the metal plate, through its corridors and inside its crew to discover... "They're robots!" She gasped. "This is all a fake."

"I hate to say this but... Lex?" Kate asked.

"Seems like a hell of a coincidence doesn't it?" Kara replied. "And he'd have no problem putting innocents in harms way if it gets him what he wants."

Something about that sentence rang a warning bell in Kate's mind but she tucked it away for later.

"We can't just do nothing..." Kara said, her fists clenching. 

"How long until the DEO could get here?" Kate asked and J'onn shook his head. 

"In enough numbers to make a difference? At least a couple of hours." 

Kate hissed, looking around for inspiration. There had to be some way to help without giving Lex what he wanted.... her eyes fell on J'onn and she felt her mind start to race.

"I've... got a really bad suggestion." She said reluctantly. It took her just thirty seconds to outline her plan but another minute for the argument to finish. Ultimately Kate herself didn't like it one bit but she knew her girl and hiding while others suffered, maybe died, that wasn't an option.

Above the Dominator ship dropped lower, its hull opening to reveal a lethal looking weapons array unfolding to target the city. And with a thunderclap of air Supergirl raced to meet it, leaving behind Kate Kane and Kara Danvers who hurried away looking for safety.

Even above the noise of battle the sonic boom of the Girl of Steel joining the fight was clearly audible. The people looked up, sure the noise was the start of some new terror... and then they saw her. For the first time since Lex had shown the world that their hero was a traitor to the human race they saw her. And the cheer that rose almost drowned out the sounds of war echoing around them.

Kate, picking her way through the chaos with Kara at her side, looked up just as Supergirl banked sharply around the hull and crashed straight through the weapons cluster. Before the explosion had time to fully form she was beyond it, arcing up, her heat vision stabbing out again and again and again as she cleansed the ship of its ability to deliver death from on high. Kate almost stopped to stare but the crowd around her forced her to keep moving or be knocked over and trampled. This, she realised, wasn't the Supergirl she was used to seeing, holding herself back in rigid control. This was a Supergirl furious at the world and willing to unleash all that rage on the unfeeling murderous machines in front of her.

She tore through the sky like an avenging angel, hammering the ship into submission before arcing up, twisting over and racing into the streets. Her senses reached out, listening for the hiss of Dominator battle orders, the gentle metallic noises coming from deep within their synthetic frames. She made a point of breaking them all, not simply stopping them but spilling their metal guts to the floor so any cameras looking on would see the truth, would see she wasn't killing thinking, living creatures. At least that's what she told herself but deep down she knew the truth, that this was a release for her and the sheer joy of cutting loose, of being able to break something was what she needed at that moment.

Kate turned a corner and stopped dead as she almost ran straight into a Dominator. It drew itself up to its full height... but Kate was already moving. Throwing Kara's hand to their right, hoping the blonde would take the hint and run, she darted under the outstretched fingers as she stretched out and snagged a pipe from the debris of battle. Pivoting she smashed the metal hard against the thing's face and whether machine or alien it howled in pain. She let the pipe's momentum twirl her closer to the creature, working with the weapon to bring it down full force into the things ribcage. At least she assumed that's what it was. It seemed to do the trick as it dropped to one knee, clutching its side.

As the end of the pipe smacked the concrete she shifted her grip, getting both hands around one end and jumped towards her enemy. She spun in mid air, the end of the pipe moving so quickly it whistled in its arc until it embedded itself with a mix of wet organic squelch and the clang of machinery in the thing's head. 

Panting Kate scrambled back to her feet, turned and saw Kara half hidden behind a pile of rubble, her blue eyes wide at what she'd just seen. Kate ran over and grabbed her hand.

"You okay?"

"Y.. yes."

"Come on, we've got to get back..." Kara nodded and together they kept running through the madness.

Supergirl, meanwhile, had taken out over half of the 'invasion' force and was busy rounding up those that remained when she heard the sound she'd been dreading. A gentle 'click' from the ship holding position a few hundred feet above the Thames. She looked up and saw the bottom of the vessel hinge open to reveal a large sphere, maybe a third the size of the ship. With a grunt of effort she lashed out with her heat vision, a single concentrated blast that swept from one side of the street to the other, cutting down the Dominator forces charging her. Then she gathered herself and raced into the sky.

She banked tightly around St Paul's and hugged the rooftops, pouring on the speed as she saw the sphere twitch. A few more seconds, she thought, just a few more seconds... She dropped down to the surface of the river, her flight churning the water below as if a speedboat was racing through it. The the sphere dropped and she angled up, arms extended, palms open.

She caught the bomb before it was halfway to the ground, cushioning the impact, letting it slow rather than stop before she pushed harder, calling on her almost limitless reserves. She felt the metal creak beneath her hands, adjusted her grip, eased into the task so as not to shatter the thing or, worse, explode it. Slowly at first then with increasing speed she flew the sphere back up into the sky, up past the Dominator ship, past the tip of the Shard and into the clouds. As she burst through the soggy grey blanket into the open sky she felt the Earths' sun reach out, feeding her, protecting her as it had ever since she'd arrived on the planet. 

She tensed her muscles and gave the thing one huge shove, hurling it away from the people lost to view beneath the clouds. Up, up, up it raced and then, as it started to slow at the top of its flight, she let her heat vision reach out. For an instant nothing happened then the bomb buckled...and blew! Disintegrating into a fine rain of fragments which Supergirl flew beneath and vaporised before they could reach the cloud layer.

She turned and scanned the invisible city below, picking out the few remaining Dominators. With a determined look she threw herself back towards the ground, quickly and effectively destroying any remaining threat to the citizens before twisting to vanish into the clouds above.

Kate heard the distant explosion of the bomb but found herself surprisingly calm. Somehow she knew that Supergirl was up to the task, that there was nothing to worry about and that she'd...

There was a gust of wind from behind her, a complicated moment when she felt Kara's left hand in hers twice and then an extra set of footsteps in the alley. She turned to the smiling blonde and said quietly. "always come back to me."

"Of course..." Kara said.

"Sorry, just... just finishing a thought. Never in doubt." Kate reassured her with a wink before turning to the teenage boy standing behind them. "Thank you for your help, perfectly done."

"My pleasure." J'onn's voice came to them not through their ears but echoing in their minds. "Now you should probably get back to the hotel, there's going to be a lot of questions and you don't need any more surprises."

"No kidding." Kate muttered and Kara nodded her agreement. "See you soon" she thought and J'onn smiled as he turned to pick his way back through the rubble.

They didn't say much to each other until they were back in their hotel room and Kara had done another quick check for any bugs that might have been slipped in while they were away. 

"Nicely done." Kate said, gesturing up to the ceiling and sky beyond.

"I hope so..."

"You're worried about what comes next?""Aren't you?"

"No." Kate said and it was entirely true. She was a little surprised about it but it was a cold, hard fact. "It's taken me a while to work it out but I don't think there's much we can't handle if we're together."

Kara smiled and nodded. "Yeah... same here." She admitted. "Though I never thought that'd include the end of the literal universe."

"Multiverse." Kate corrected.

"Yes but 'multiversal' is much harder to say in a hurry."

"You really can't help editing on the fly can you?"

Kara shrugged. "What can I say, it's my calling."

"I thought your calling was smashing alien spaceships?"

"It's 2020, who doesn't have two jobs these days?"

Kate tried to respond but couldn't quite force back the snort of laughter and settled for a nod of agreement.

"So.... what next?" Kate asked after she'd got herself back under control.

"Well we can't do much about Myriad until we hear back from Star Labs.... and I can't believe we've missed much from the data archive at this point.... I guess we're back in vacation mode?" The last words were in a rather hopeful tone, Kate thought to herself.

"Yeah, I'd pretty much come to the same conclusion. So lie low here for the rest of the day 'recovering' from the alien attack then head out tonight to keep the press coverage running?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Kara agreed. "Anything in particular you had in mind?"

"Yes, actually." Kate said with a nervous grin. "I've... always wanted to go to a goth club here."

Kara's eyebrows rose in surprise and before she could say anything Kate rushed ahead. "They've got such a great rep, well, some of them do and you've seen this city it's perfect for a good club scene and there's that effortless British cool that... some of them do quite well and the style's..."

Kara cut her off with a finger to the lips. "Actually, I was just surprised you hadn't been before."

"Oh..." Kate looked sheepish. "Well I was travelling the world training, not partying. Never got the chance really."

"Sounds like fun." Kara said with a look of slightly nervous excitement. "Though I've got no idea what I'm going to wear to something like that."

"Leave that to me..." Kate said and the single raised eyebrow told Kara that she was in for an interesting evening.


	5. Chapter 5

Kate had dashed out to raid London's finest retail establishments for suitable attire while Kara stayed behind to 'rest' following the attack. Privately Kara had grumbled about that, she was getting a little tired of the public image of Kara Danvers being quite so helpless but she also knew that, for now at least, it was the right move. The more distance between Kara and Supergirl the better, especially since both had been in London at the same time. Besides it gave her time to do one more pass through Lex's data for anything relating to Dominator-shaped robots and catch up on what was going on in the world.

To her lack of surprise a considerable chunk of the news was given over to Supergirl fighting off an 'alien' invasion while her adopted country was hunting her down for betraying humanity. There was brief mention on most reports about the aliens appearing to be robots but that was mostly lost in the confusion on what Supergirl's motivations might be. Some of the guests were cautious in their opinions, others far less so to the point Kara found herself muttering an answer when one particularly obnoxious gibbon with the worst hair she'd ever seen said "Here's this broad, shows up out of nowhere, asks us to trust her then goes against our country, doesn't do what she's told and endangers people by having a fight right over the heads. What does she stand for? She doesn't stand for anything, believe me, believe me!"

"Hope, help and compassion for all... even you you asshole." Kara ground out under her breath. She knew that, at least before this minor Lex-shaped problem had made her a public enemy of the United States, she was making a difference. This sort of blatant misogyny had been everywhere when she'd first put on the cape but had fairly rapidly tailed off. Still there was always some dinosaurs that didn't recognise they were standing in a tar pit until it sucked them under… and just occasionally she felt like giving them a helping kick downwards.

Before she could tumble too deeply into that particular rabbit hole the door opened and Kate shuffled in loaded down with bags. If the branding on the side was any indication Kara was pretty sure she herself couldn't have afforded the bag, let alone the contents, but that too was something she was getting used to. Oh she was fairly sure she'd never be comfortable with it but at least it didn't make her feel quite so guilty anymore.

"You've got that look..." Kara said, getting up and helping Kate with her purchases.

"What look?"

"The look that normally precedes me getting embarrassed."

"There's no such look!"

"Really?"

"Well... okay, there may be a look. But it's a good kind of embarrassed, right?"

Kara sighed. "Yeah, yeah it is..." she admitted, pulling Kate in for a kiss.

"Want to see what I got you?" Kate asked holding up a bag.

"Sort of..." Kara said with a mix of nerves and excitement. 

"Give me a few minutes to get everything sorted out, okay?"

Kara nodded and found herself pacing the living space, glancing over at the dressing room where she could just hear the rustle of fabric and the occasional metallic rasp of a zipper of the smooth pop of a button going through its hole.

"Okay, ready!" Kate said, opening the door and beckoning Kara to her. She thought for a moment about covering those blue eyes with her hands but figured it probably wasn't worth it. Not only could Kara just see through her flesh if she wanted to it would also mean depriving herself of seeing those eyes and that was a horrible thought.

"And here.. we... go!" Kate turned Kara to face the wardrobe where an outfit hung carefully positioned on a hanger. 

"Wow..." Kara breathed as she eyed it almost hungrily. A full length black coat in deep black crushed velvet tailored to within an inch of its life with a multi-layer collar featuring intricate patterns splaying out around the throat. Leather trousers and a silk shirt, both in black but with blood red highlights that seemed perfectly positioned to highlight the figure of its wearer including a large red splash across the chest which reminded her, at least a little, of Kate's Bat symbol. Underneath were a pair of black boots with a killer four inch heal and a wicked point.

"Put it on... please..." She breathed, looking at Kate with huge, hungry eyes. 

"Umm... no."

"But... but..." Kara stammered, suddenly desperate to see her lover in that outfit.

"I can't.." Kate said softly. "It wouldn't fit."

"Huh, then why did you..."

"It's yours Kara."

Kara stared, not quite processing what she'd just heard. "But, but it's so... I mean, you.... "

Kate chuckled and slipped an arm around Kara. "It's yours, had it tailored while I dashed around for my stuff. Which reminds me, thank Brainy for getting me your measurements a couple of months back would you? That nano suit apparently keeps *very* accurate readings."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

"But I can't, I mean, I'm not, I wouldn't."

Kate sighed and shook her head. "Please please tell me some variation on 'I'm not good or pretty enough' is not heading for this conversation." Kara blushed scarlet and Kate stopped her from turning away.

"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen Kara. Trust me, try it on, it'll work."

Kara hesitated then nodded. There was a blur of movement and suddenly she was standing in front of Kate with an odd look on her face like half of her was embarrassed and the other half was fighting to get the realisation she was stunning through to the first half.

"Oh my... Kara...." Kate breathed, eyes wide as she licked her suddenly dry lips. "Have you seen yourself yet?"

"No."

Kate held out a hand and gently nudged Kara towards the full length mirror. For a long moment the girl of steel said nothing then slowly turned in place, her eyes glued to her curves as the suit seemed to work overtime to flatter her already spectacular figure. It clung precisely where it should and flowed easily, somehow without leaving so much as a crease.

"Thank you." Kara said quietly but to her surprise Kate hesitated on the offered kiss.

"Uh, one thing..." Now it was Kate sounding nervous. "There's another piece to this that I really want to see you in but it's probably a really, really bad idea to wear it out tonight. Would you mind...?"

"Sure." 

Kate swallowed and passed a surprisingly large box up to Kara. She opened it and couldn't help but laugh. 

"Seriously?"

"Please?"

Kara, her eyes sparkling, pulled the black mask from the box and slipped it on, noting without surprise it fit perfectly. Her hair spilled down either side and it was all Kate could do to keep breathing.

"So?"

"Perfect. Just... perfect."

They came together and Kate practically dissolved into Kara's waiting embrace. Her hands slid over Kara’s back, tracing the curves of her body and sending shivers through the Kryptonian as the silk rubbed against her. 

“One question?” Kara asked and Kate quickly nodded. “Was there any particular reason you wanted me to look like Batwoman?”

Kate blushed and stammered slightly and not even Kara’s hearing could catch the words.

“Sorry, didn’t quite get that.”

Kate sighed, lost in Kara’s eyes as she ran a fingertip around the edge of the mask and down Kara’s chin. “I didn’t. I saw this and knew you’d look stunning and it wasn’t until after I pictured you in it I realised… well…. And then there was no way I could go for anything else and the mask was right there and…”

As a skilled and well-practiced member of the babbling club Kara recognised when someone just didn’t know how to stop talking and gently pressed a fingertip to Kate’s lips. 

“Kate…” Kara asked, her voice soft and full of promise. “… do you want to make out with Batwoman?”

“Yes. Yes please….” Kate echoed Kara’s words from what felt like a lifetime ago except being Kate the ‘please’ was more seduction than begging. Kara gave her a wicked smile and lunged forwards in a passionate kiss. A few minutes later there was a dull thump as they fell to the ground in each other’s arms and Kate found herself teased over the edge of a body-shaking orgasm while Kara’s blue eyes stared down at her from within the confines of the mask.


	6. Chapter 6

To their surprise the streets of London were quite busy when they stepped out and started the short walk over to their intended club for the evening. Perhaps, Kate thought, it wasn’t really a big shock, this city had certainly seen its share of insanity over the years and its people seemed to have a quiet resiliency to them that was both inspiring and frightening. What was a couple of hours of alien invasion to a place that had endured decades of terrorist bombs or 8 months of nightly aerial bombardment? 

Kara had expected to be a little self-conscious in the stunningly intricate getup but to her surprise found herself almost forgetting about it. Part of that had to do with the long black cloak that Kate had bought her to get to the venue which helped avoid too much unwanted attention from passers by. It certainly didn’t hurt that she’d left the mask behind either, that might have been too much to ignore even for London crowds. But she was pretty sure most of it had to do with the striking vision walking to her right.

Kate had deliberately gone for a rather different vibe to Kara, trying to compliment her rather than compete and had squarely hit the mark. Her slender frame was draped in a slick black suit, a matching translucent shirt underneath and a very male cut to everything that was doing all sorts of things to Kara’s concentration. She’d set it off with a silver-topped cane in her right hand and slicked her hair back to help accentuate the gender-fluid nature of the look and it was seriously working for the blonde stunner who held both her hand and her heart.

Once they made it past the bouncer and Kara had checked her cloak they entered the club proper and it was all Kara could do not to stop and stare. The place was… she wanted to say dimly lit but that wasn’t right. There was actually a surprising amount of light but it was all reds and purples, blues and greens. The building itself was spread over three stories and had a distressed chic look to it, exposed but painted brickwork and steel beams overhead hung with what seemed like countless strings of fairy lights and neon. 

Most of all though it was the people around them who caught Kara’s attention. The outfits were all so… so… complex, most achingly stylish and with a many layered theme going on that let them either look completely different from another angle or hold their lines no matter what their wearer seemed to do. Even amongst the glamorous gathering though Kate and Kara stood out. Kara’s perfect figure seemed to have been poured into her clothes, or maybe the other way round with the fabric turning to liquid before setting perfectly across her body. Kate was, if anything, under-dressed in this crowd but the simplicity of her suit and the way she carried herself coupled with her naturally striking presence turned it into a masterpiece. 

“So what do you think?” Kate asked, realising as she did so another of the side benefits to dating Kara Zor-El was being able to talk at normal volume in a crowded club and still be heard.

“I love it!” Kara was grinning from ear to ear, turning this way and that trying to take it all in. It was just so… so…. “Certainly a different vibe to the, uh, bar back home!” She said, quickly swallowing the word “alien” before it could sneak out. 

“I imagine it is.” Kate agreed. “Though I’ve gotta say London appears to go more for style than, uh, skin.”

“Huh?” Kara looked confused and Kate took pity on her.

“Let’s say there’s a very flexible line between goth and fetish shall we?”

“Oh!” Kara blurted out and blushed so hard it was actually visible even under the odd lighting.

“Okay, spill, what did you just think of?” Kate demanded as she threw a long, slow look up and down Kara’s remarkable figure.

“Umm… how you and leather are such a good combo.” Kara admitted as Kate moved in to whisper in her ear.

“Wait until I introduce you to latex…” Kara blinked, her mind whirling to an unintended but educational Google search she’d accidentally run in the course of researching an industrial warehouse in National City. She’d made sure to keep safe search turned on after seeing the results for Latex Paint.

Before Kara could explore the suddenly pressing matter any further the club was plunged into blackness. All around them was a confused silence broken only be quiet murmurs.

“Part of the show?” Kara whispered.

“Not as far as I know…” Kate replied looking around. “Even the fire exit signs are off.”

“Hang on.” Kara dipped her glasses and quickly scanned the room. The crowds were surprisingly calm all things considered, nothing odd was happening on the stage, the back stage area had the same mix of confusion but no panic… and then she looked up.

“Uh-oh.”

“That can’t be good. What’s ‘uh-oh’ mean?” Kate whispered, shifting her grip on the cane to turn it from fashion accessory to weapon.

“Wait… I know her…”

“Kara, sweetie, out of the two of us only one can see in the dark. Need some info here…”

“Sorry! There’s a leather-clad woman on the floor above who seems to be walking around and biting people’s necks…. Which is not something I thought I’d ever say!”

“You said you knew her?”

“Pretty sure she’s the one who got sent to Arkham about a year ago for murdering, like, four husbands in a year or something ridiculous.”

“Nocturna.” Kate groaned. “Great, just great.”

“Wait, who?”

“Nocturna. She’s, well, basically a vampire.”

“A vampire?”

“Yep. Super strong, almost invulnerable, bites your neck to control you that sort of thing. And if she’s biting people upstairs she’s either having to heal…”

‘She looks fine to me.”

“Or she’s recruiting.” Kate finished grimly. “Either way we can’t let her run riot in here.”

“We’re not great at this whole laying low thing, are we.” Kara said with a grim smile.

“Well if someone’s stacking the deck against us…” Kate was busy unscrewing the large silver head piece from her cane as she talked. “On the plus side really doubt anyone’s going to recognise you in that outfit.”

“Maybe I should have worn the mask!” Kara joked.

“Great, then they’d think you’re Batwoman and we’d really be in trouble. Plus it’s hard enough living up to Bruce, I don’t need you setting that bar even higher!”

“Fair. Ready?”

“Yeah, just lead the way.”

Kara grabbed Kate’s hand and they quickly weaved their way through the pitch black club to a set of metal stairs. Rather than risk the clank of shoe on metal Kara scooped Kate into her arms and floated her way up silently to the floor above. Kate, her eyes finally adapting at least a little to the almost total darkness, could just make out the dimmest of outlines as a tall shape moved amongst the crowd of twenty or so people, all of who stood unnaturally still. With a silent sigh she set her shoulders, reached out and tapped Kara’s arm. As soon as she felt a squeeze on her shoulder Kate held up the ornate head piece in one hand and put her free hand over her eyes. A second squeeze let her know that the message had been received and, taking a deep breath, she clicked a hidden control and lobbed the suddenly humming device into the middle of the room.

The moment it hit the ground a set of small but brilliant strobe lights burst into life, casting the room in sharp relief for an instant before blinking off, pausing, and slashing through the darkness once more. The frozen figures stirred as if waking from a deep trance. Some of them shrank back from the light, confused, but about two thirds slowly turned to face the dynamic duo at the command of their new mistress. The strobe pulsed, turning the movement into a bizarre stop-motion display and without a word Kara and Kate sprang to the attack. 

The part of Kate that wasn’t busy with tactics and fighting marvelled at how well integrated they’d become in a short time. No need to plan, no need to even talk… Kara had gone straight for Nocturna while Kate dealt with her minions. She winced as she caught the first of the mind-controlled slaves under the chin with her cane, the crunch of a broken jaw very clear in the quiet building and she was all too aware that these were innocent bystanders caught up in something way outside of their control. Trying to avoid hurting them more than necessary was the key to this one… but she also knew that was likely to open her up to more punishment even if only thanks to sheer numbers With a grim determination she set to her task.

Kara hadn’t bothered with a warning, after all she wasn’t technically Supergirl at this moment and Nocturna was clearly in need of having her face punched. Unfortunately while the blow did, indeed, connect all it really did was force the vampire back a few paces. She turned her neck, rubbing her cheek and eying Kara up and down while licking her lips.

“Ohh, actually felt that one. Whoever you are beautiful I’m going to enjoy turning you!”

Great, Kara thought, not only can she stand up to my punches but she’s also hitting on me. Terrific.

They traded blows, Kara still going for the head trying to end the fight quickly, Nocturna landing a swiping shot to Kara’s midsection that shredded her shirt and missed her skin by a fraction of an inch. Not entirely sure where vampires sat on the whole ‘magic hurts Kryptonians’ spectrum Kara made a mental note to avoid finding out if her claws could pierce her flesh. The vampire lashed out with a kick to Kara’s stomach which was easily sidestepped in favour of a crunching punch to the side of Nocturna’s knee. This time there was clearly damage and the vampire wobbled as she tried to regain her balance.

She looked up and Kara saw the shock written in her face.

“What… are you?” Nocturna asked, suddenly worried. 

Kara didn’t say anything but allowed her face to slide into her best impression of Kate at her most focused and angry. She stalked forward, backlit by the strobes flashing on the floor. The worry flipped to full blown fear and Nocturna back peddled away from the approaching woman.

“No. Stay back!”

Kara ignored her, ducking or sidestepping the fists that flew at her to land a devastating punch into Nocturna’s gut, driving the wind out of her. She doubled over and held up a hand.

“Stop, please!”

Kara wanted nothing more than to fire up her heat vision, after all vampires healed from most things, right? But she resisted, knowing that would give the game away. Instead she reached out and grabbed the hand, pushing it back to the point of breaking. Nocturna cried out in pain… and rushed forward. Kara felt the wrist snap and was so surprised she hesitated. It was all the opportunity the vampire needed, her one working hand wrapping around Kara’s head to grab a handful of hair, pulling her back, exposing her neck.

Kara felt the cool breath on her skin, could practically feel the razor sharp points of fangs. Without thinking she slammed her head backwards, the crack echoing around the room as Nocturna got a Kryptonian skull smashed into the bridge of her nose. Kara twisted, her hand coming up and locking around a throat, squeezing, shutting off the flow of both air into the body and blood up to the brain. Nocturna clawed at the unbreakable grip, mouth gaping as she gasped for a breath that couldn’t come. Within seconds she started to fade, her hands dropping to her sides, her head lolling forward as she passed out. Kara kept her grip for a few more seconds, carefully monitoring Nocturnas heart beat to make sure she really was out before dropping her to the floor like a broken toy.


	7. Chapter 7

“Good job.” Kate’s voice rasped behind her and Kara turned to see the rest of the vampire army in the making lying on the ground groaning. Kate stood tall in the middle of them though her suit was clearly a write off and blood was visible in a couple of places through the material. “We should be going now…”

Kara nodded as Kate scooped up the strobe device and turned it off. The moment the darkness returned, now all the worse for eyes that had endured the harsh white strobe lights, Kara had her in her arms and dashed them both outside through a back entrance to the building. Quietly, quickly they made their way back through the smaller streets to the hotel, Kara electing to fly them up to their balcony rather than try to explain their current state to hotel staff in the lobby or letting the paparazzi get a shot of them.

“Kara, your hand!” Kate snapped as soon as she got a proper look at the Kryptonian. Angry red gashes criss-crossed the perfect skin, blood still oozing from a couple of them.

“Oh… guess that answers that question. Good job I didn’t let her bite me.”

“Yeah, that would have been bad.” Kate agreed trying to hide her shock. She was so used to Kara being the Girl of Steel, standing tall and untouched no matter what horrors she endured that to see her bleed was startling. She reached out and winced as something tugged in her side.

“Hold on, let me look.” Kara said softly as she scanned her lover, heart in her throat. Please don’t let her be hurt, Kara thought, not now, not when they were still on the run… Breathing a sigh of relief she looked up into those wonderful eyes. “Nothing broken, looks like it’s just badly bruised.”

“Nothing ‘just’ about it.” Kate grumbled but she was privately relieved. It had been a nasty hit that had sent her tumbling into the edge of the bar and she’d known it had to be close to snapping something important. “Loving the belly shirt by the way.” 

Kara ran a hand across her midriff and realised that the shirt was basically shredded leaving her flat stomach on display. Instinctively she made to cover herself with a hand only to find Kate gently but firmly pushing her arm aside then, to Kara’s surprise, kneeling down in front of her. She lent forward and kissed Kara’s abs through the wreckage of her outfit and Kara couldn’t help the groan of pleasure, her hands wrapping in Kate’s hair as she tried to commit every single detail to memory.

“OH! Sorry, sorry, really really sorry!”

A third voice was so unexpected that as Kara and Kate instinctively turned to face it they lost their balance. Kara fell on to her back and dragged Kate down with her, Kate’s face landing up a few inches lower than it had been a second before with Kara’s legs wrapped around her ribs. 

“Mmmmmpphh!” The voice was muffled now and Kara looked up to see a ghostly glowing figure with her back to them, its blue and white outfit sparkling and shifting as if it wasn’t quite there. She had her hands raised to her face, her head lowered and her entire body screamed embarrassment.

“Hi Nia.” Kate said dryly, not bothering to get to her feet. “Great timing!”

“Not what it looks like, very much not what it looks like!” Kara protested before realising that her hands were still tangled in Kate’s hair.

“It’s a bit what it looks like.” Kate said, now clearly enjoying the situation and trying to ease what she was sure was a huge chunk of guilt on Nia’s part. “About ten, maybe twenty seconds later and it’d have been exactly what it looked like.”

“I’m so, so sorry!” Nia’s voice was still muffled. “We’d have waited until the morning but this can’t wait and I didn’t think you might be…”

“We weren’t!” Kara protested.

“Technically that’s true.” Kate confirmed, taking pity on the dark haired phantom that had suddenly appeared in the room and easing herself up from Kara’s delectable body with only a single lingering glance at the bare stomach she’d been looking forward to teasing.

“Wait, how are you doing that?” Kara asked, floating herself upright and reaching out tentatively for Dreamer’s shoulder. Her hand passed straight through.

“I, uh, J’onn linked our minds and is helping me astral project. As we both know you it makes things easier. Uh… can I turn round now?”

“You could before.” Kate pointed out.

“Yes, but can I turn round without J’onn seeing his adoptive daughter….”

“Wait, wait, J’onn can…”

“See everything that I do, yes.”

Kara burned crimson and dropped her head into her hands. Kate just paused for a minute then shrugged. “I’m sure after a couple of centuries on Earth he’s seen worse but it’s safe.”

Carefully Dreamer shuffled round then peaked over her fingers. Coupled with Kara still looking like she wished the ground would swallow her up it was too much for Kate and she dissolved into giggles.

“Sorry… sorry, I’ll be… you’ve got to admit this is funny though.” Kate said at Kara’s glower, getting herself back under control. “Okay, I’m back. Now, what’s so urgent that you risked the horrific sight of Kara Danvers naked.”

“HEY!” Kara’s offended look was so over the top even Nia snickered and, as Kara turned it on her, shrugged. “Yeah, that’d be just… awful.” She cast an appreciative look over Kara’s gothic-clad figure and burst out laughing as embarrassment replaced outrage. “Hey I’m your friend, not dead.”

“And what about J’onn!” Kara demanded.

“I’m considering that retribution for winning every hand at poker a couple of weeks ago.” Nia said casually.

“Anyway, back on track, what *was* so important?” Kara said, trying to be the adult in the room while trying very hard not to think about how much she’d need to apologise to J’onn when all this was done.

“J’onn managed to sneak out of London in all the chaos and get back here a day early.” Nia said with a slightly distracted air as if repeating something being whispered in her ear. “Star Labs are still working on the specifics but they’ve identified it as a variant on a weaponised gas developed by Doctor Jonathon Crane.”

“No…” Kara spun around at the horrified word and saw Kate turn white. “That stuff is… is fear toxin?”

“Modified but yes.” Nia nodded. “You can see… why… this wouldn’t wait.” She winced and staggered slightly.

“Are you okay?” Kara said, alarmed. 

“Yes but this, this isn’t easy.” Nia grunted. “J’onn’s helping but it’s still…” 

“Okay, listen, is there anything else we need to know right now?”

“No. Wait, yes. Everyone’s safe here Kara, Lex is still trying to play this as the good guy so don’t worry about us.”

“Thank you.” Kara said quietly, relief obvious in her voice. “Nothing else?”

“No.”

“Okay then can you do this again in, I don’t know, in a couple of hours?”

“I think so.”

“Then hang up and go rest. We’ll work this through and have a plan ready when you get back.”

“Alright, take care. Both of you!”

“We will, thank you Nia.” Kate said and watched as the astral projection fluttered out of existence. 

There was silence for a moment as they both processed the shift in their world.

“Fear toxin…” Kate treated, dread dripping from the words. “Well that makes sense.”

“What is the stuff Kate?” Kara said, moving close and grabbing her hand. “Why does it have you so spooked?”

“You’ve seen it before, well, the after effects anyway. Remember that stuff Barry and Oliver got exposed to at Arkham that made them see each other as their worst enemies, their worst fears?”

Kara blanched, realisation dawning. “That’s…. Kate, from what Killer Frost told me it turned them against each other instantly. And if it can do that to Oliver…”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“So what the hell is it doing wrapped around Myriad?” Kara said.

Kate started pacing, words spilling out of her as her mind raced through the problem.

“Those pipes… they were a sealed system… didn’t vent into the room so let’s assume they use the AC pipework to get to the outside world. Which would mean…” Her eyes went wide and she stopped dead, turning to stare at Kara. “That monster! He wouldn’t…”

“Wouldn’t what? Kate….”

“Okay, okay work through this with me. Lex has the DEO out in the public eye, very noisily stopping alien threats on a weekly basis, adverts all over the place saying trust them. He puts the alien registry on line in a backdoor political move guaranteed to stir up feelings on both sides. Tempers are high, patience strained. The system gets hacked almost instantly, private details are out there and someone does something stupid. No idea who but there’s always some moron ready to do what’s ‘right’ for a horrible cause.”

She paused and Kara nodded encouragement. “Keep going….”

“Violence breaks out, probably sporadic but nasty. Injuries or deaths, likely on both sides. Moderate voices try to calm things down, heroes appeal for peace… then out of nowhere massive spaceship full of Dominators attacks a major population centre. Fake Dominators of course, robots under his control but no-one would know. Even if they got broken and discovered who’s to say that’s not just what Dominators are under the skin? No early warning, DEO gets there too late to prevent casualties. More hate, more division, more humans turned against aliens and they know who they are, where they are. And then…”

Kara gasped, a hand to her mouth as the horror crept over her. “Myriad.”

“Yeah, you said Lena was going to use it to remove humanity’s flaws. Lex turns that around, uses it to amplify our tribal nature, force distrust to hate. And then in major metropolitan centres around the world a huge dose of fear toxin strips away the last remnants of self control. War between humanity and aliens, Myriad burning those emotions and patterns into the entire planet.”

“And he’d come out of it the hero wouldn’t he?” Kara said, her eyes blazing. “The man who guided the human race to salvation… on a path of corpses.”

“Only you took the alien registry before he could move!” Kate said, the pieces clicking together faster now. “He didn’t plan for that, assumed you’d follow the rules instead of doing what’s right.”

“And with that gone he lost the spark he needed to light the fire.” Kara said, her journalist side poking through. “So he frames me instead…well, kinda… and hopes that does the same job. Sends humans after us to try to get us to slip up, show we’ve been lying to the world the same way I lied to.. to Lena.” She swallowed, guilt and grief welling up.

“Except when he tried to launch the Dominator attack the people made it pretty clear they’d not lost faith in you.” Kate said proudly. “You were still their hero, risking her life to stop the threat. You even made sure to limit the collateral damage so he couldn’t use that either.”

“So he’s got to get us out of the way before he can move… and sends someone with magical abilities after us in the hope that’ll catch me off guard.” Kara finished before pausing, confused. “Wait, if that’s all true, why go to the trouble of putting you in that fake video? He could have had me attack Alex, that’d have helped him out.”

“Because tying me in put suspicion on the entire league.” Kate said firmly. “Supergirl going rogue doesn’t do that, quite the opposite. People would expect the rest of the league to track you down. Add Batwoman to the mix and he’s got a legitimate excuse to bench everyone as untrustworthy.” She smiled grimly but with a mischievous look in her eyes. “Bet everyone’s happy about that, saves them an ass kicking.”

“Huh?”

“Oh come on, we all know that unless someone gets really lucky you could put the entire league over your knee for a metaphorical spanking if you wanted to.”

“Kal could…”

“Take you on head to head, get smacked around and end up face down in a fountain for nap time? Yeah, I’ve seen the footage.” Kate said with a smirk. “There’s a reason we’re the World’s Finest sweetie.”

Despite everything Kara snickered. “I love you, you know that?”

“What do you think keeps me going through this madness?” Kate said and lent in for a quick, tender kiss. “Now the question is… what’s he going to do now? And how the hell do we stop it?”

“Good question…. Lex isn’t the sort to accept defeat gracefully and he’s got all the resources of the DEO and the US government at his disposal now, not to mention LuthorCorp. He’ll keep going, figure out a way to get people where he needs them.”

“So we need to take out Myriad?”

“Yeah, it’s a weapon we can’t leave in Lex’s hands. But how the hell we do that I’ve got no idea. If we attack one site he’ll surely know about it and can just set the rest off. Even I’m not that quick. Hell, Barry’s not that fast!”

“So if force isn’t going to get the job done we need to be clever about this.” Kate mused, bracing herself for the next suggestion. “Get an inside man to take it all down at once. Well… an inside woman.”

Kara looked up, realisation dawning even as her face fell. “You don’t mean… Lena?”

Kate nodded, her face grim.

“Lena."

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to say a huge thank you for the incredible comments on previous parts, hope that this has met expectations. The last part (and an unexpected to the author epilogue) of the Public Enemies arc are more or less finished but need an editing pass or two so will probably be along in a couple of days.
> 
> Once again I managed to write myself into a horrible corner trying to figure out fashion choices for Kate so blatantly stole from Ruby's real life choices. Seems to work...
> 
> Oh, and as a quick reminder, this is still trying to at least echo the CW shows in terms of style and budget albeit we're now into those bits of multi-part crossovers where frugal planning in earlier episodes allows a little more elbow room in your effects work ;-)


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